1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of the sport of bowling, and more particularly to a method of playing a bowling game.
2. Description of the Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,597,575; 4,817,947, 4,884,806, and 5,582,549 the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse methods of playing a bowling game. U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,575 appears to disclose a variation of a scoring system that awards points for pins left standing, not pins knocked down. The one with the lowest score wins the game. It seems that this system is designed for more inexperienced players rather than professional bowling players. U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,947 also is a variation of scoring bowling that proposes various placements of the pins, depending on the levels of skill each player has. It appears to apply to a luck factor much more than actual skill so that people of widely varied skills can compete with more of an equal chance of success. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,806 also discloses a varied system of scoring for bowling that scores according to given trajectories set forth on the bowling lane that the bowler tries to duplicate with the path of their ball. This method awards points more for the accuracy the player can duplicate throwing the ball for their pre-designated trajectory formed on the bowling lane. U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,775 is also a similar method of scoring in terms of skill, rather than luck. It has a minimum requirement of pins to be knocked down with each throw of the ball; it eliminates a pin from the pin set up with each consecutive frame; and any player who delivers a gutter ball is eliminated from the game. U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,549 appears to be a scoring system that increases the "luck/chance" factor in winning and not skill. It uses standard regulatory scoring with the exception that it also has "penalty" frames whereby the bowler loses points for pins knocked down. The more skill and experience a player has the more "penalty" frames they have to play; the less skilled, the less "penalty" frames the player has to play making this game all around a "luck" factor game. It is clear that all the prior art have variations on scoring the game but it appears that none of them are structured in a way to make this a 100% skill based game.
While all of the aforementioned prior art methods are more than adequate for the basic purpose for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, practical and fair method of scoring a bowling game which fairly represents the skills of the players.
At present the current conventional method employed in scoring bowling does not necessarily mean that the best bowler of the tournament won the event. The "luck factor" seems to be the combination of strikes and spares, and the bowler with the most strikes and spares may not win the match because of the combination of those strikes and spares.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a need for a new and improved method of playing a bowling game and the provision of such a method is a stated objective of the present invention.